Six Things You Should Look For When Choosing a Dental Marketing Company

Six Things You Should Look For When Choosing a Dental / Medical Marketing Company

This week are discussing what dentists and doctors should be looking for when choosing a dental marketing company.

Are they trying to lock you into a long-term contract? We hear it at least once a week. A dentist calls us and says they need help getting new patients, but they are locked into a long-term contract and not getting any results. They are stuck, and the marketing company they are working with knows it. We don’t do contracts because we want to be judged by the return on investment we are getting our clients. (and we average an 800% ROI for our general dentists!)

How many clients have they worked with LIKE YOU? You want to work with a marketing company that has “been there, done that.”, and has significant experience working with doctors. You don’t want to be their first client so that they can make their mistakes with you. You don’t want to be there guinea pig! Make sure they are experienced (i.e. they have already had plenty of successes and a few failures and learned from them all). Ask for references, case studies, etc.

Your marketing company should have a proficient understanding of your services and how they appeal to your patients. Dentistry is a unique (and complicated) business. That is why you have to go to school for so long! A really good dental/medical marketer understands your business and services (at least at a high level) and more importantly, understands the best ways to communicate those services to the masses.

They should not be too big…or too small. If you work with one of the bigger agencies you will likely be pawned off on rotating account managers who will ask you your customer ID number every time you call. If you decide to cancel your service you will be put in an endless loop of trying to find the right person that you have to speak to before you cancel. If you work with a company that is too small you will end up waiting months and months for your logo to be designed! You want to work with a company that knows you by name, not account number; and where the success of your business is as important to them as it is to you.

Avoid the company that only sells one solution and offers it as the “Silver Bullet” for all of your marketing needs. Your agency should be your Trusted Advisor who will customize a plan for you and your practice based on what you do, where you are and who your ideal patients are. There is no such thing as one marketing strategy that will magically produce all the patients that you need. Your agency should offer multiple strategies, so that you know they are making recommendations based on what is best for you, not what is best for them.

Make sure they can assist you with conversion. Getting potential patients to call the practice is the first step. Making sure your your front desk can convert those prospects into patients is the next. Call tracking, reporting and coaching is a great way to help you make sure you are taking advantage of every opportunity that comes your way… and not leaving money on the table. Missed phones calls, poor sales skills, bad follow up… all of these can keep a good practice from becoming a great practice.